Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver) is attempting to bolster diversity in the cybersecurity field through multiple different programs and initiatives.
Dr. Janine Davidson
MSU Denver houses its own Cybersecurity Center and offers cybersecurity as a major, said MSU Denver President Dr. Janine Davidson.
And cybersecurity company Atos has a Security Operations Center on campus and has hired students even before graduation, according to the school.
The school – it is the third largest public institution in the state of Colorado – is both a minority-serving institution (MSI) and a Hispanic-serving institution (HSI), Davidson said. MSU Denver also has approximately 500 current DACA recipient students, Davidson said, adding that the school was the first in Colorado to offer in-state tuition for undocumented students who had gone to high school in the state.
Davidson noted that cybersecurity programs should focus not just on recruiting minorities but also women, arguing that both demographics are underrepresented in the field.
“One of the greatest issues we're facing today in cybersecurity is that it is predominately male,” said Richard C. Mac Namee, director of MSU Denver’s Cybersecurity Center. “And diversity includes clearly includes diluting it to the point where there is equity."
As of this year, MSU Denver is also a National Security Agency (NSA) National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense, meaning that it is able to meet and adhere to the standards of the governmental organization, Mac Namee said.
